Rebecca's Near Miss
by AaronCottrell97
Summary: Rebecca grumbles about the trap-points outside Tidmouth Sheds that are there to derail runaways that would otherwise collide with trains on the Main Line. The next day, a meddling firelighter fiddles with her controls, causing Rebecca to start moving. But fortunately, the trap-points are there to save her from a nasty accident.


Winter was slowly beginning on Sodor, and with the new Steam Team assembled with Nia and Rebecca, this winter would start out with some rather interesting events, with Rebecca being the first one to experience one of them. Near to where the line from Tidmouth Sheds joins the Main Line, there are a set of special points called trap-points. Their rails don't lead to anywhere, but they are long enough to derail any runaway engine or train to help stop a collision with other engines running on the Main Line. They are powered by a very strong and effective spring that is controlled from the signal box when an engine truly needs to join the Main Line. All the engines knew these points quite well, but as Rebecca was still rather new to Sodor, she didn't fully understand their purpose.

One afternoon Nia, Rebecca and Emily were all on the line together, and the big yellow engine was eyeing the trap-points, trying to figure out why they were there. It just seemed a little unusual to her that an engine would want to run away and hit these points.

"I don't understand, Emily," said Rebecca. "Why are these 'trap-points,' here?"

"They're for safety, of course, Rebecca," said Emily. "They stop a runaway train from crashing with another engine. Why do you ask?"

"Safety is all very good indeed," said Rebecca. "But I just don't understand why any engine would want to run away from their nice warm shed. Winter is starting to come after all, and as many engines wish to be really useful, I don't see why anyone would want to run away."

Neither Emily, nor Nia could explain why anyone would, so they didn't bother to explain why.

"I don't know any answer to engines wanting to run away, Rebecca. But I will say that if these trap-points weren't here, this part of the line would probably see several accidents," said Emily.

"Very true, Emily. They're certainly there for good reason." said Nia. But Rebecca was still puzzled as she and the other two engines went on their way…

Then one winter night, Rebecca was all alone in Tidmouth Sheds. This rarely ever happened, but on this night, all the other engines had their own business going on. Gordon had a long, busy passenger run, and was not due to return from the Mainland until next morning. James got held up by track repairs at Vicarstown and decided to spend the night at Crovan's Gate with Molly as she had moved out of the sheds. Thomas and Emily were of course spending the night at Knapford Sheds, making love until they fell asleep, Nia was at the Steamworks, and as usual, Percy was taking the mail.

It was a cold night, and Rebecca was feeling a little lonely. She really liked having all her new friends to visit and talk with ever since she arrived on Sodor. Being left alone in complete silence and stillness made her feel bored. Then as she glimpsed at the moon through the clouds, she got an idea.

"Hmm…" she said to herself. "Maybe I could sleep in another berth other than my own for a change tonight. I wonder what that would be like..."

So Rebecca turned round on the turntable to Emily's berth and backed inside. It felt interesting to be on the other side of the sheds and having a different view. It also meant that she wouldn't have to turn around in the morning since the turntable was now pointing to line on to the Main Line. She stared out to the long wall that ran along the rails and past the sheds, all the way to the town clock in the distance.

After a while, Rebecca saw the firelighter arrive. This made her smile as the firelighter usually came later than this. The firelighter got to work starting Rebecca's fire. Soon, she felt warmth spread through her boiler, making her drowsy and comfortable.

"Running away," she thought as she closed her eyes and fell asleep. "Who'd be daft enough to do that on a cold morning like this?"

But suddenly, Rebecca woke up again as she felt someone climbing into her cab. It was the firelighter, who thought that while no one else was around, it would be fun to drive an engine. He unwound Rebecca's brake and moved the regulator, but nothing happened. The firelighter, dismayed, left the sheds for the night. Without closing the regulator again. Rebecca took little notice and soon fell asleep again, enjoying the flickers of warmth in her smokebox and boiler, making her sigh sweetly.

Sometime later, Rebecca woke up again. She could see the sun was just beginning to rise. But then she realized what had awoken her. She could feel steam trickling into her cylinders that would surely make her start up. She felt as though it was too early for her driver to be here yet.

"What's going on?" she asked herself. "I'm not supposed to start this early."

Then suddenly, as she pondered her thoughts, Rebecca could feel her wheels turning…and she started to move! She gasped nervously and suddenly remembered the firelighter and assumed there was a great mistake. She had no driver and she was now rather frightened. She tried to stop, but she couldn't. She tried to whistle, but she couldn't. Then as she gained speed, she was nearing the shed doors.

"Oh, dear! I wish these shed doors were built to stop an engine!" she panicked. And Rebecca shut her eyes.

"Agh!" She exclaimed as she crashed through the doors. They burst out of their hinges and clattered to the sides as Rebecca rolled outside, into the chilly, frosty air.

"Help! Help!" Rebecca cried as she rumbled over the turntable and onto the line. She did not like this one bit, but she couldn't do anything about it.

Then Rebecca frightfully remembered the Main Line and hoped desperately that nothing was coming, but a green signal light and the sound of an approaching engine crushed her hopes that same moment.

"Please help me!" Rebecca cried as she shut her eyes and waited for the crash, whimpering with fright.

But suddenly, she felt her front wheels slip to one side and soon, her driving wheels were off the rails too. Then, Rebecca stopped, leaning a little to one side. She opened her eyes again and realized she had hit the trap-points and derailed, and that she was just a few inches clear of Gordon's coaches as he whistled and thundered by.

"Watch out, Rebecca!" she heard him call.

Rebecca was greatly relieved and she smiled again as she saw men shouting and running toward her.

"Rebecca, are you alright?" One of them asked.

"I…I am!" Rebecca gasped. "Goodness me! That was close!"

"Don't worry, Rebecca," said another man. "We'll get you back on the line."

One of the men ran to inform the Fat Controller of the situation while the others ran off to telephone for Judy and Jerome. Rebecca looked down at the rails.

"Thank you, trap-points!" She beamed. "You saved me and Gordon! You really are useful, and you can stay here as long as you like! I can't wait to tell Emily about…oh my gosh! Emily! Her berth!"

Rebecca suddenly remembered that Emily's shed doors were now broken away, leaving her berth wide open to the winter air. Rebecca stopped thinking about the trap-points, and was now hoping that Emily, as well as the other engines, wouldn't mind all the draft that would come inside the shed. As it would turn out, there was be a little bit more to discover besides the drafty sheds. Something that Gordon would soon discover himself. But that's another story.

* * *

Finally, our Christmas stories are underway. Kicking the festive season off is an adaptation of the "Near Miss" annual story, only replacing Henry with Rebecca, an adaptation I've wanted to do for awhile. Also, this is my 125th story...in terms of release order, my 125th story chronologically will be the next story. And as we alluded to at the end, the next story will also be related to this story, so look forward to yet another annual adaptation, this time it's "Gordon's Stowaway". Until then, leave your reviews and we'll see you next time.


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